In this collection of essays from his Washington Post column, National Book Award nominee Noel Perrin rescues from obscurity a broad range of 30 wonderful yet overlooked works for children. Perrin is an enthusiast, offering not reviews but persuasive and engaging recommendations for such works as The Railway Children, A Wizard of Earthsea, and The Light Princess. In some cases, the story is not really unknown but may be underserved or unrecognizable in its cartoon or movie adaptation, and deserves to be read and savored in its original form, particularly Charlotte's Web, The Hobbit, Watership Down, and The Rescuers.